South Taranaki District Council faces another challenge and more expense in its effort to fluoridate Waverley and Patea water supplies.
Just three weeks after the High Court dismissed a bid by New Health New Zealand to stop the council's plan, the anti-fluoride group says it will appeal the ruling.
The judicial review has cost the council more than $220,000 and officers reckon the appeal will add $20,000-$35,000 to that.
In its original challenge, New Health said STDC had no legal power to add fluoride and its decision, made in December 2012, breached the right of anyone to refuse medical assistance.
But in his judgment, Justice Rodney Hansen accepted the council's argument that fluoridation decreased the incidence and severity of dental decay across the population who drank that water.